Quests, secondary quests, boss tips, new activities – everything you need to make the most of Geralt’s final (?) adventure.

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is the last planned instalment in CD Projekt’s series. While the lauded Polish team may return some time in the future, this second major expansion pack to the blockbuster 2015 RPG is something of a last hurrah.

And as you’d expect, it’s a good ‘un. Presenting an all-new landmass populated with quests and open world content offering roughly the same amount of gameplay as the Skellige act of Wild Hunt, Blood and Wine takes us through a stirring tale of chivalric knights, creeping horrors and lots and lots of wine.

Consider this Geralt’s summer holiday. Collect some tasty loot, face the toughest beasts you’ll ever encounter, enjoy the company of a colourful cast and drink Geralt into a stupor. Welcome to Toussaint!

As part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough, we’ve gathered together everything you need to know about Blood and Wine – a full walkthrough from installation to the end of the story campaign, and endings guide, and a list of side quests with walkthroughs where justified.

Blood and Wine main quest walkthrough

After downloading and installing Blood and Wine, look for a new post on notice boards throughout Velen to acquire this first quest. You should be about level 35 before attempting this quest line; if you have concerns about your existing saves, you can elect to play a standalone version with a levelled Geralt kitted out in okay-ish end-game gear. This is more challenging than attempting Blood and Wine with a Geralt who has seen and done the majority of Wild Hunt’s activities.

• Envoys, Wineboys

• The Beast of Toussaint

• Blood Run

• La Cage au Fou

• Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away

• Wine is Sacred

• The Man From Cintra

• Capture the Castle

• The Night of Long Fangs

The main story quest branches here:

Beyond Hill and Dale branch:
• Blood Simple (optional)

• Beyond Hill and Dale

• Tesham Mutna

  • Pomp and Strange Circumstance

  • OR

  • Burlap is the New Stripe

What Lies Unseen Branch:

• Blood Simple

• What Lies Unseen

• Tesham Mutna

• Pomp and Strange Circumstance

The Blood and Wine main storyline terminates in a post-ending quest called Be It Ever So Humble. See our Blood and Wine endings guide for more information.

Secondary quests

There are loads of secondary quests in Blood and Wine, and some of them are real corkers. Here we’ll list their titles and recommended levels as we find them, along with acquisition notes.

• Knight for Hire

  No level. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• There Can Be Only One

  No level. Noticeboard in Beauclair. Start this as early as you can.

• No Place Like Home

  No level. Automatically acquired during main quest.

• Turn and Face The Strange

  No level. Automatically acquired while exploring Beauclair.

• The Warble of a Smitten Knight

  Level 35. Automatically acquired during main quest.

• Paperchase

  Level 36. Exclamation mark near armorer and blacksmith in Beauclair.

• Fists of Fury: Toussaint

  Level 36. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Raging Wolf

  Level 36. Complete Fists of Fury: Toussaint.

• Til Death Do You Part

  Level 36. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Granite

  Level 37. Exclamation mark or notice boards in Beauclair.

• Father Knows Worst

  Level 37. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Big Feet to Fill

  Level 37. Via the Bovine Blues Witcher Contract.

• Master, Master, Master, Master

  Level 40. Exclamation mark in a shop in Beauclair.

• Extreme Cosplay

  Level 40. Exclamation mark between Mere-Lachaislongue Cemetery and Trestamara Hunting Lodge.

• A Knight’s Tales

  Level 40. Notice board at Castel Ravello Vineyard.

• The Hunger Game

  Level 42. Speak with Marlene at Corvo Bianco after peacefully resolving a confrontation during La Cage au Fou.

• Mutual of Beauclair’s Wild Kingdom

  Level 46. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• Equine Phantoms

  Level 44. Exclamation mark on a road leading north west from Dun Tynne Crossroads.

• The Perks of Being a Jailbird

  Level 49. Examine the loose stone on the wall at the start of Burlap is the New Stripe.

Secondary quests – Wine Wars

• Wine Wars: Belgaard

  Level 37. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn. Begins quest chain.

• Wine Wars: Vermentino

• Wine Wars: Coronata

• Wine Wars: Deus in the Machina

• Wine Wars: Belgaard (Part Two)

Witcher Contracts

• Big Game Hunter

  Level 37. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• Bovine Blues

  Level 38. Notice board in Toussaint.

• Feet as Cold as Ice

  Level 45. Exclamation mark near Nilfgaardian Embassy in Beauclair.

• The Tufo Monster

  Level 48. Notice board in Toussaint.

Gwent in Blood and Wine

A whole new deck, a new collection quest, a tournament and more. (If you need help learning to play, check out our Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide to how to kick ass at Gwent.)

• The Skellige deck

  A basic introduction to the strengths of the Skellige deck – and how to beat it.

• Gwent: To Everything – Turn, Turn, Tournament

  Includes tips on how to play as Skellige so you can win the tournament.

• Gwent: Never Fear, Skellige’s Here

  Collect ’em all with our guide to Gwent NPC locations.

Treasure Hunts

• Treasure Hunts list

  Open world and random treasure hunts, with walkthroughs.

• Grandmaster Feline Gear

  Acquire top-tier light armour via a bit of burglary, and grant Geralt the hood he’s never dreamed of.

• Grandmaster Wolven Gear

  Another hot set of Witcher armour to adorn geralt’s toned bod.

• Grandmaster Manticore Gear

  Google “manticore” before you decide to go after this one.

• Grandmaster Ursine Gear

  Is Geralt a bear? He could be. Grow your beard out, for starters.

• Grandmaster Griffen Gear

  A nice upgrade to one of the most balanced armour sets in the game.

New open world activities

Visit unknown markers around the map to unlock all the usual open world activities like abandoned sites and guarded treasures – plus some new activities exclusive to Toussaint.

• Vintner’s Contracts

  A wine merchant will ask you to clear a nearby location, usually a monster den or monster nest, for a reward.

• Hanse Bases

  Large strongholds of high-level bandits with a name boss duel at the end. Beat them and exit to secure the area.

• Knight Errant in Distress

  Some bandits are beating up a knight! Try to kill them before the knight dies. Never mind if he does, just loot everything.

Back to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone adds a ton of new content to CD Projekt RED’s best-selling RPG. Here’s how to find it – and how to beat it.

Hearts of Stone is the first of two announced expansions for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Released on October 13 2015 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, it’s included in the Expansion Pass and Game of the Year edition, but can also be purchased separately.

As part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about Hearts of Stone, including pointers to the Hearts of Stone content, tips, a complete walkthrough of the main quest line, and a list of secondary quests to track down and complete.

The expansion adds about ten hours of story content including a main quest line as well as multiple optional secondary missions. It also adds loads of new open world markers to explore, a new short term romance option for Geralt, many expanded locations, several Gwent cards and an entirely new kind of craftsman.

How to access Hearts of Stone content

To start playing Hearts of Stone you will of course need to have downloaded and installed the expansion. It’s also very much worth downloading the whopping 15 GB patch CD Projekt RED released within a week of the expansion’s launch; you may have difficulty loading your save files without it.

There are three ways to get started with the new content of Hearts of Stone. The easiest way is to select it right from the game’s start-up menu; this will drop you in with a level 32 character.

Otherwise, you can load up your existing save or even begin a brand new game, following your quest journal to the Seven Cats Inn to kick off the adventure at the notice board. If you choose either of these two options, be aware that CD Projekt RED recommends a minimum level of 30 before starting, as the enemies in this quest line are much tougher than regular foes.

• 7 tips for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

  Some points for returning players, even veterans.

Hearts of Stone main quest line

Below you’ll find links to our full walkthrough of the Hearts of Stone main quest line.

• Evil’s Soft First Touches

  • How to beat the Toad boss fight
  • How to beat the Olfieri Mage

• Dead Man’s Party

  • How to romance Shani

• Open Sesame

  • Safecracker
  • Breaking and Entering
  • Witcher Seasoning

• Scenes from a Marriage

  • How to beat the Caretaker boss fight
  • How to beat the Wraith from the Painting boss fight
  • How to beat the Iris von Emerec’s Worst Nightmare boss fight

• Whatsoever a Man Soeth

  • How to get into Master Shakelock’s house
  • How to find Master Mirror

Secondary quests included in Hearts of Stone

Hearts of Stone secondary quests

• Enchanting: Start Up Costs

  This quest is available right after checking the board at the Seven Cats Inn, and unlocks the services of the new rune crafter. He’s a fun guy. You’ll need 5,000 gold to complete the first step of this process, mind.

• Enchanting: Quality has its Price

  Help your new friend acquire the materials he needs to get back in business – and maybe find some extra treasure on the way.

• Races: Swift as the Western Wind

  The friendly Ofieri merchant by the runecrafter is willing to gamble the best saddle you’ve ever seen.

• From Ofier’s Distant Shores

  A scavenger hunt offered by the Ofieri merchant near the runecrafter. Best accepted before you start the main quest.

• Rose on a Red Field

  You’re automatically given this quest after your first meeting with Olgierd. It can be completed fairly quickly so it’s worthwhile doing immediately.

• A Midnight Clear

  Shani’s romance quest. Available towards the conclusion of Dead Man’s Party if you don’t mess things up too badly.

• Without a Trace

  Found on message boards near Oxenfurt. A short, uncomplicated quest from a herbalist you’ll have to visit multiple times during Open Sesame. May as well get it started on your first visit, and finish it before your second.

• The Royal Air Force

  A treasure hunt in an abandoned laboratory. You’ll pass this marker riding between missions; watch for a harpy attack.

• The Drakenborg Redemption

  A treasure hunt in a cave full of creepy crawlies visited during Enchanting: Quality has its Price.

Back to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough

If you missed grabbing The Witcher 3: Game of the Year Edition last fall when it was rather cheap, you’re in luck.

Matter of fact, the entire Witcher franchise is on sale through Steam until February 11. If have yet to play it, do yourself a favor and pick The Witcher 3 up on Steam, while it’s 60% off.

For those who already own the core game, the expansion pass is on sale for 50% off at $12.99. Of if you prefer, each individual DLC offering is 50% off as well.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition is currently 85% off at $2.99 while the game that started it all, The Witcher, will run you a paltry $1.49. It’s the Enhanced Director’s Cut of the game released in 2008.

You can also pick up the The Witcher Adventure Game for 75% off, or $2.49.

If you decide to add all of The Witcher games on sale to your cart, well, you’ll get a whole lot of Geralt for only $27.

Hit up the Steam link for more information.

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Nothing like a free game to kick off the Year of the Dog.

GOG is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a sale, and it’s handing everyone King of Fighters 2002 for free.

You have around 45 hours to claim your free game, which is plenty of time, but for some of the flash deals you will need to be quick about it.

For instance, Vikings – Wolves of Midgard is $8.99 for the next 15 minutes. That’s one heck of deal if you’ve been wanting the game but are loathe to spend $30 on it. SO, hurry.

This War of Mine: Soundtrack Edition is also 80% off right now and will run you $4 for the next hour or so. Be sure to check back every hour for a new flash sale.

For the next few hours, Thief Gold is 85% off, Shadowrun Hong Kong – Extended Edition Deluxe 80% off, Darkwood is 30% off and Raman Origins is 80% off.

Tropico 5, Shadow Warrior 2 Deluxe, Thimbleweed Park, Icewind Dale: EE, and many more are on sale.

Plus, The Witcher 3 Game of the Year Edition is only $20. Jump on it now if you haven’t already.

Other than the aforementioned, there’s more than 500 deals from now through February 20 with up to 90% off.

The wonderful Hellblade is 30%off, Stardew Valley (my 2016 Game of the Year) is 33% off, Cuphead is 15%, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 is 10% off. I am only 1/4 of the way through the latter, but I am smitten with it.

Be sure to hit up GOG and give the sale the once over. Surely, there’s something in there to tempt you, if not, at least grab your free game.

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Well, that’s an interesting tease.

Looks like The Witcher fans can expect our intrepid hero Geralt to make a guest appearance in an upcoming game this year.

CD Projekt RED community lead Marcin Momot posted a tease on Twitter this morning regarding such an appearance. We’re of the opinion Geralt will be popping up in Soulcalibur 6, as it’s “one of the upcoming games” releasing “later this year.”

Bandai Namco said there will a guest character in the game this year, which isn’t surprising going by past history. Plus, the company published The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in Europe, so there’s a special connection between it and CDP.

What if Geralt was going to step out of the @witchergame for the very first time to make an appearance in one of the upcoming games later this year? pic.twitter.com/dMTn1Im6HD

— Marcin Momot (@Marcin360) March 6, 2018

Guest stars in previous Soulcalibur games include Kratos in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny for PSP; Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed 2 appeared in Soulcalibur 5; and Soulcalibur 4 had Darth Vader, Yoda and the Apprentice from The Force Unleashed.

Other guest appearances over the years in Soulcalibur games include Link from The Legend of Zelda, Heihachi Mishima from Tekken, Spawn, and more.

Soulclaibur 6 is out this year on PC, PS4 and Xbox One and is currently without a release date.

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GOG is hosting a pretty great sale on some really nice titles with a focus on storytelling.

There are plenty of adventure and RPG titles to choose from, 76 if our math is correct, and that doesn’t include the soundtracks.

If you have yet to play any of The Witcher games, shame on you by the way, all three titles will only set you back $24.47. That price includes the enhanced editions of The Witcher and The Witcher 2, and The Witcher 3 Game of the Year Edition.

There are plenty of classic RPGs on the list like Baldur’s Gate and Ultima, and newer games such as Gorogoa, and What Remains of Edith Finch.

The most expensive title on the list is Hand of Fate 2 for $25.49, and there are few offerings for as little as $1.19.

Games on sale through GOG are listed below, and pricing can be found on the storefront. The sale ends March 26, at 5pm EDT, 10pm BST.

• Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse
• Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition
• Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition
• Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
• Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear – Digital Deluxe Edition
• Broken Sword: Director’s Cut
• Broken Sword 2: Remastered
• Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon
• Broken Sword 4: The Angel of Death (Secrets of the Ark)
• Broken Sword 5 – the Serpent’s Curse
• Darkest Dungeon
• Darkest Dungeon: The Crimson Court
• Darkest Dungeon: The Shieldbreaker
• Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition
• Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun Series
• Dungeons & Dragons: Krynn Series
• Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft Series
• Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Three
• Forgotten Realms – The Archives – Collection One
• Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Two
• Gorogoa
• Hand of Fate
• Hand of Fate 2
• Hand of Fate: Wildcards
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
• In Cold Blood
• King’s Quest 1+2+3
• King’s Quest 4+5+6
• King’s Quest 7+8
• Lands of Lore 1+2
• Lands of Lore 3
• Legend of Grimrock
• Legend of Grimrock 2
• Legend of Kyrandia (Book One)
• Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate (Book Two)
• Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm’s Revenge (Book Three)
• Nox
• Oxenfree
• Personal Nightmare
• Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh
• Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
• Return to Zork
• Siege of Dragonspear Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack
• Simon the Sorcerer
• Simon the Sorcerer 2
• Simon the Sorcerer 3D
• Space Quest 1+2+3
• Space Quest 4+5+6
• Starflight 1+2
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish
• The Colonel’s Bequest
• The Dagger of Amon Ra
• The Feeble Files
• The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
• The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings – Enhanced Edition
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Expansion Pass
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone
• Tyranny – Bastard’s Wound
• Tyranny – Commander Edition
• Tyranny – Overlord Edition
• Tyranny – Portrait Pack
• Tyranny – Tales from the Tiers
• Ultima 1+2+3
• Ultima 4+5+6
• Ultima 7 The Complete Edition
• Ultima 8 Gold Edition
• Ultima 9: Ascension
• Ultima Underworld 1+2
• Waxworks
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Zork Anthology
• Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands
• Zork: Grand Inquisitor

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Months after the Witcher 3 received its Xbox One X-enhanced patch, players on PlayStation 4 are still waiting for the same update to grace their consoles.

On Xbox One X, the Witcher 3 was updated with 4K support, and HDR. After a bit of teasing, the patch got a surprise release in late December.

At the time, developer CD Projekt RED confirmed that a similar update is in the works for PS4 Pro, promising to share more details in due course. Fast forward to today, a little over three months after and still no date in sight.

Marcin Momot, community lead at CD Projekt RED, was asked to give an update on the state of the patch a few times over the last few days. Following a period of silence, Momot returned with a statement, but it’ll sadly still leave many disappointed.

“PS4 Pro HDR patch is still very much in development,” Momot told his Twitter followers. “Due to the fact that we’ve discovered some additional bugs along the way, we need more time to finish it.”

“We don’t want to compromise the quality of the update, so we would like to ask you for a bit more patience,” he added.

That still doesn’t leave us with a new date, or a proposed time frame for the patch’s release, but at least we know it’s not dead.

In a followup tweet, the community manager confirmed that HDR support will also be made available on the base PS4, as part of the same patch.

Games typically release their enhancement patches days apart on both consoles, which is what makes this delay all the more bizarre. Still, considering the Witcher 3 predates PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, and the fact that it was even going to get enhancement patches at one point, it’s good to hear that work continues.

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Since the release of the PS4 Pro, The Witcher 3 fans have been clamouring for CD Projekt Red to patch in HDR support. Well, the wait is finally over.

The PS4 Pro patch for The Witcher 3 has gone live. As well as adding HDR support for base and Pro PS4 models, the patch introduces stability improvements, fixing various crashes, as well as some visual improvements.

Here’s the full list of changes:

• HDR support;
• various performance optimizations;
• stability improvements;
• localization bugfixing;
• minor visual improvements.

A new patch for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PS4 and PS4 Pro is now available – thank you for your patience! The most notable changes are introduction of HDR and stability improvements, related to crashes experienced by players.

Full list of changes: https://t.co/Va3ewIG2fK pic.twitter.com/PvSZOvf00K

— The Witcher (@witchergame) April 11, 2018

Players have been eagerly awaiting this patch ever since the Xbox One X version of The Witcher 3 got the same treatment at the end of last year.

If you are waiting for CD Projekt Red’s next game with as much anticipation, check out our Cyberpunk 2077 primer.

Let us know if you head back into The Witcher 3 after the patch.

The post The Witcher 3’s PS4 Pro patch is live appeared first on VG247.

In GOG.COM’s latest sale, you can safely assume at least one game you need made the list.

What’s the best excuse for hosting a massive games sale? Simple – when each and every game is guaranteed to be desired by fans. That’s the entire rationale behind GOG’s Most Wanted Sale, which compiles over 150 of the most popular wishlist items and slashes their prices by up to 85%.

While this is certainly a great excuse to pick up games you missed, it also offers a peak into GOG’s most-desired games. It turns out the most popular wishlist items are still The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its various expansions.

Coming in a close second is Planescape: Torment, followed by the equally-beloved Baldur’s Gate 2. These games are now discounted at 60%, 67%, and 75% respectively.

Of course, GOG hasn’t limited its sale to those top-three games. (Or to RPGs, for that matter!) You can pick up heavily-discounted classics like Freespace 2 and Deus Ex, indie hits like Superhot and Xenonauts, or relatively recent games like Divinity: Original Sin 2. And while we’re at it, please let me recommend Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines which deserves some love at 75% off.

GOG.COM’s Most Wanted sale is live now, and runs until April 23, 2018.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has received another small update that aims to fix issues introduced with the previous one.

In April, CD Projekt RED released the long awaited HDR patch for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which also promised to improve performance.

Since then, many have been reporting a few visual bugs when running the game in 4K on a PS4 Pro. The developer deployed a hotfix shortly after, but some of these problems, most notably draw distance visual bugs, were left untouched.

This has been corrected this week with yet another hotfix. The update should prevent trees and other foliage from popping in and out of view a short distance away from Geralt.

The new hotfix for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now available on PS4 and PS4 Pro! This update increases draw distance for foliage, while using 4K on PS4 Pro and applies to both, Vanilla and GOTY versions of the game. pic.twitter.com/wYvPDSkhUD

— The Witcher (@witchergame) May 16, 2018

That’s basically it, which, if truly fixed, may be the last patch the game receives. This pop-in issue along with performance problems were the two most cited “downgrades” in players reports, so it’s good to finally seem them addressed.

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Wait, which Infinity Stone does Ciri have in The Witcher 3 again?

The Witcher 3 is one of the most critically-acclaimed video games of the past decade. Avengers: Infinity War is a part of a superhero movie event that’s attracting fans from around the world. But if we used a Reality Stone to combine the traits of each, you’d get a fan trailer that makes you want to watch an epic superheroic Geralt film.

The video, released on YouTube by “Eduku”, takes the story beats of Wild Hunt and arranges them to the music and pacing of a Marvel Cinematic Universe trailer. And for the most part, it works pretty well, even if you’re constantly expecting Hulk to leap into frame or something.

Hey, wait a second. Is this how Geralt found his way to the Soulcalibur universe?

The post This Witcher 3 fan trailer takes a few notes from Avengers Infinity War appeared first on VG247.

We’re big fans of HalkHogan’s Witcher 3 texture mod here, and its latest version is even more impressive.

Mod creator HalkHogan has been working on their HD Reworked Project for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for a while. After several iterations, some of which weren’t received well by the community, the creator is back with the biggest update yet: version 5.1.

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project’s goal is simple: recreate the majority of in-game textures and models in a higher resolution. Though earlier versions of the mod took some artistic liberties, version 5.1 reserves CD Projekt RED’s original designs, it just improves them.

The mod touches practically all textures that the developer left at a lower resolution, either due to performance limitations, time constraints or any number of development reasons.

The performance hit is minimal, and the trade-off is that you get sharper textures anywhere you look. Wood, metal, stone, and even water textures have all been overhauled. The mod really makes a difference when you run The Witcher 3 at 2k or higher.

The video below does a good job of showcasing the upgrades to some of the most common textures in the game.

To download the mod, just head over to the official Nexus Mods page. Note that it’s almost double the size of the earlier versions, but it’s still a relatively modest 1.5GB.

The post The best Witcher 3: Wild Hunt texture mod just got better appeared first on VG247.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the best game I’ve ever played. Geralt and co. have won countless accolades since launch, and I love them as much as my actual family.

I adore The Witcher 3 so much I have the colouring book, the novels, the cosplay calendar, and am considering getting audio tapes so I can Witcher in the bath.

Just like how Geralt’s story is told through many mediums, the game itself takes on a variety of forms: it’s as challenging as it is thoughtful, as colourful as it is grim. It’s a fantasy story, but somehow it feels deeply personal as well.

Where many RPGs offer binary good and evil choices, The Witcher 3 is all about shades of grey, just like Geralt’s lovely beard.

Geralt is a hero who is motivated by pure logic. He’s methodical, patient and resilient; he can always see the bigger picture – granted, he has superhuman Witcher senses – and is willing to give everyone a say.

He’s also an outsider, a non-human, a freak. He exists on the peripheries of society, called upon only when people are desperate – otherwise he is deemed unworthy of attention, care, or respect.

This is strikingly similar to what it’s like to live with mental illness. Games such as Hellblade or Night in the Woods deal with themes of psychosis and depression, but I feel The Witcher 3 gives a much more rounded and realistic picture of what it’s really like to live with mental illness.

Just like how witchers are feared by the uneducated, there’s a stigma attached to people with mental health issues. Your voice and skills are often only valued in certain situations, such as for research purposes or when yet another social media post about mental health comes around. To top it off, you most certainly face the insults and discrimination Geralt does.

You hardly need to go down a Reddit black hole to find pages about living with someone with BPD/EUPD and how “manipulative”, “lazy”, “awful”, “disgusting” we are. Much like Geralt, people see us as freaks.

The Witcher 3 deals with the loneliness of living on the edge of society in an interesting and subtle way: Geralt knows he is different, but he accepts himself. He harbours no resentment, no shame for who he is. He accepts that loneliness of walking the Path is his to bear.

That’s not to say that Geralt is ever alone for long – he regularly seeks the comfort of women, there are fellow witchers he calls his brothers, and he has forged friendships with humans and non-humans alike over his near-century long existence. And that is the most accurate portrayal of real life, mental illness or not, that I’ve ever found in a game – minus swordfighting 30 years past your pension. Ultimately, we are alone in our personal pursuits, and that there’s nothing shameful about it.

The Witcher promotes a message of self confidence, self respect and self care that permeates through the entire series; at no point does Geralt shy away from his responsibilities or question his beliefs or needs. He is an incredible role model who has no shame in showing vulnerability and embracing his lot in life.

Whether it’s Anna’s symptoms and dementia, the Bloody Baron’s alcoholism and depression, Syanna’s abandonment and trauma, the game constantly touches on real world issues. The Witcher 3 is simultaneously a world that’s swathed in war, apathy and sadness, and one with reunited families, joy and love. Those shades of grey.

Living with EUPD, it’s incredibly easy to forget my strengths, my skills and even my relationships; the phrase “feeling empty” is thrown around a lot in clinical discussions but it’s incredibly difficult to describe how it actually feels. The sorceresses of The Witcher speak of how they use their magic to make themselves look beautiful because they wish to appear more powerful than they are. They thrive on superiority.

In the book, “The Last Wish”, Sapkowski writes about how Geralt can see in Yen’s eyes that she is a misshapen hunchback from a poor family, as opposed to the stunning, aristocratic image she curates. Whilst a departure from Geralt’s stalwart self acceptance, the sorceresses are a metaphor for the image we create and want others to see, as opposed to what we may feel inside.

My generation is especially good at creating online personas of being aloof, outgoing and self-reliant when we may be anything but that. It’s taken me a very long time to put my real self out there; that is, someone with an incredibly dry sense of humour who really likes video games. And The Witcher helped me get there.

There’s a section towards the end of Blood & Wine which helped me come to terms finally with who I am. Whilst sharing a drink, Regis asks Geralt if he were to do it all again, would he choose to be a Witcher? You can say no, obviously, but answering yes was an incredibly self-affirming choice and a moment which still moves me when I make it.

If there’s one message I could get out there, it’s this: play The Witcher 3. Oh, and love and respect yourself for who you are… That’s important, too.

The post The Witcher 3 shows what it’s really like to live with mental health issues appeared first on VG247.

Doug Cockle, the gravelly-voiced actor behind The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia, has been acting in games for almost two decades.

Still, despite all his experience in games, movies, television shows, and even on the stage, somehow Cockle has never worked in motion capture. “I have yet to get into a motion capture suite,” Cockle tells me. “It’s something I really want to do – it’s on my bucket list.”

For The Witcher series, the entire thing was done in the recording booth. Cockle never even met the actress who plays Yennefer, and he only met Triss as they passed in the corridors between their sessions.

“I’d love to be part of the Uncharted series,” he says. “Tomb Raider – I can’t be Lara Croft, obviously, but being in a Tomb Raider game would be a lot of fun.

“I was on a judging panel for BAFTA and one of the games I played was What Remains of Edith Finch. It’s like an interactive graphic novel. I just thought it was so beautifully done. That’s a developer I wouldn’t mind getting in bed with.”

So if you want to hear Cockle’s voice pop up in Uncharted, Tomb Raider, or whatever comes next from the developer behind Edith Finch, let the creators know.

If Geralt is what he can deliver from a sound booth, I can’t wait to see what Cockle does when he finally gets into a mocap studio.

You can follow Doug Cockle on Twitter. If you want to read more about the actor, keep an eye on the site tomorrow for our big interview about the evolution of Geralt.

The post The voice actor behind The Witcher’s Geralt would love to work on Uncharted appeared first on VG247.

After countless hours of script-reads and recording sessions, Doug Cockle’s job was at risk.

The voice actor, most famous for his performance as The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, had moved on with his life after the original Witcher game released. It was met with mild acclaim. Eventually, a sequel, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, was greenlit by developer CD Projekt. None the wiser, Cockle received a phone call one day, from an actor friend of his.

“Hey, I just auditioned for the role of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher 2,” he said. “I thought you were Geralt?”

So did Cockle.

“I was surprised, but that’s the nature of the entertainment industry,” Cockle tells me. “I contacted someone I knew at CD Projekt and said, ‘Look, I’ve heard you were casting for The Witcher 2 and I’d love to audition if you’d like me to’.”

That person then got in touch with the game director and told them the American actor was eager to reprise his role. The director had a listen to some of his work on the first game and liked what they heard, and so Cockle returned as Geralt for the sequel – one of only two original actors to return.

Cockle slips into Geralt easily these days. At multiple points during our conversation, he lowers his voice to that signature Geralt growl. In the fiction of The Witcher, becoming one of these monster slayers isn’t so simple. To become a witcher, you must first drink an alchemical concoction known as the Trial of the Grasses.

Seventy-percent of young witchers who drink this poison do not survive, but those who do are granted superhuman reflexes, cat-like eyes, and other inhuman abilities. It is just one part of a witcher’s gruelling training, all of it designed to strip away a person’s humanity, turning them into a cold-blooded, monster-killing merc.

In the first Witcher, the after-effects of this process are still very much visible in Geralt. He’s reserved, always calm, and he sees everything logically. He doesn’t let his feelings get in the way. But as the series progressed and Geralt grew older, his soul began repairing itself.

“When we did The Witcher 1, CD Projekt were adamant that he could have absolutely no emotions whatsoever,” Cockle tells me. “I did that as well as I could, but being an actor – that’s what we do, we play with emotions.

“Lambert’s a prick”

“It never sat that well with me. I was thinking, ‘This guy does have emotions, it’s just that his job doesn’t allow him to give into them’. If he does, he dies. He squashes his emotions right down and keeps them in check. It’s probably true that the Trial of the Grasses did a lot of that squashing, but anyone who’s played The Witcher 3 knows the witchers all have emotional lives. Vesemir is full of emotion. Lambert… Lambert’s a prick.”

By the time the second game came around, CD Projekt decided to relax the rules a little. To stand out, this next game needed a heart that wasn’t made of stone. It needed to have more personality, and it needed to tell a more personal story with characters players could relate to – even if that character is a sad bridge troll with a drinking problem.

The Witcher 2 was where CD Projekt started to really get noticed, but the evolution of the studio’s writing and characterisation was at its most stark in the step up between the second game and The Witcher 3. The move to a proper open world is what made the headlines, but The Witcher 3 stood out because it felt more raw, more human, and more emotionally-charged than any RPG that came before it.

“What you can see in the progression from The Witcher 1 right through to The Witcher 3 is a progression in the writing, but also in terms of Geralt and how close to the surface his emotions are,” Cockle says. “I think by the time we get to the end of Blood and Wine, he’s almost a different character. He’s sentimental and he’s expressing his care for the people around him in a way that he didn’t in the earlier games.”

Blood and Wine, the final expansion for The Witcher 3, is about as misty-eyed as add-ons get. Geralt is on a contract in the far away land of Toussaint, and it takes this separation for him to truly appreciate the people close to him. He is there on a mission, but he is also on the verge of hanging up his silver blade and sacking it all in for a life in his newly-acquired vineyard.

“By the time we get to the end of Blood and Wine, he’s almost a different character. He’s sentimental and he’s expressing his care for the people around him in a way that he didn’t in the earlier games.”

“Part of that is because he’s a character who’s growing older and knows more about himself, and maybe now he has the opportunity to feel and experience some of the things he couldn’t when he was younger,” Cockle muses. “I think it’s the writers going, ‘Let’s give him some more humanity’. I would pick up on that in the writing. I would see it and go, ‘Oh yeah!’. Then I’d take it a step further.

“There were always times as well where I’d go in for pick ups to re-record lines and the direction would be, ‘Not so much emotion’. So even then I’d sometimes push it too far for CD Projekt’s liking. But that’s what it’s all about – it’s about compromise and finding what’s best.”

Cockle himself has been along a similar journey to Geralt. While he was recording Geralt’s lines, he was also teaching acting at the Arts University, Bournemouth. He would often work 60 hour weeks at the school, then he would go to work in the recording studio for the entire weekend as a ronin performer. Last year, it all became too much and he had to make a decision.

“I was starting to really feel the weight on my body and soul from the job itself, which was full on, and also still doing professional acting – I was unwilling to give that up entirely,” Cockle says. “I had a conversation with my wife and I decided I needed to do one or the other: just teaching, or just acting. After much deliberation, I decided to leave the teaching behind. I honestly think if I’d stayed with the teaching and given up the acting, I would be a less happy person. If I had to give up the acting altogether, I think some part of my soul would have died.”

If Geralt ever did hang up his sword to toil in a vineyard, I couldn’t ever see him stopping helping people altogether. Townsfolk would hear tales of the legendary witcher and bring their troubles to his door. Geralt would sharpen his blade, slip on his chainmail, and whistle to Roach before setting off to help them. It’s not something he would leave behind entirely – he likes gold, but he gets something out of helping people as well.

Likewise, Cockle hasn’t given up on education altogether. The veteran actor is currently working his way towards becoming a Trinity College London examiner, working with young talent and assessing them for the educational charity. Cockle likes helping people, too.

While Geralt has quite clearly grown through the series, Cockle has changed in tandem with his virtual self. Speaking to him is almost like talking to the witcher – these days Cockle’s voice more naturally slips into the grizzled growl of the white-haired warrior, no doubt due to the years and years of playing the part.

As life has gone on, Cockle has experienced more things and improved as an actor, Geralt has learned more about himself and his profession, and the writers at CD Projekt learned to inject more of that growth into their characters.

“I like to think that actors, as they get older and do more things, develop a level of depth that they perhaps didn’t have when they were younger,” Cockle says. “It’s a part of growing older and experiencing more things in life. But I think that’s also true with acting – the more you do it, the more you understand how your own process works and how you personally slot into any given role.

“I like to think performing as Geralt has helped me learn to process my own ways of doing things better.”

If Geralt were real, perhaps he would say the same of Cockle.

You can follow Doug Cockle on Twitter.

The post The growth of Geralt as an emotional character in The Witcher series appeared first on VG247.

The Witcher video games are masterpieces within the RPG genre.

Each game depicts complex characters, nuanced moral choices, and a richly-detailed world to get lost in. Now CD Projekt RED has partnered with R. Talsorian Games to officially bring this setting to tabletops with The Witcher Pen & Pen RPG.

If you weren’t able to grab The Witcher during its Gen Con debut, the digital copy is available for purchase now with a post-errata print run in the works. Yet even in its current state, R. Talsorian has done a remarkable job of adapting Geralt’s world to a tabletop RPG setting.

The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG is set between the events of Assassin of Kings and Wild Hunt. The Nilfgaardian Empire is invading from the south, while the Northern provinces collapse or rally to the authoritarian King Radovid. Soldiers and villagers alike are dying in large numbers, drawing monsters and ghosts to the killing grounds en masse. In other words, it’s a great time to be a monster hunting witcher.

While the game’s timeline takes place during the Third Nilfgaardian War, there is more than enough information to run a campaign in other time periods. The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG provides a summary of the world from its earliest recorded history to the founding of the witcher orders, the events of the original fantasy novels, and all three games. Major regions from the known world are discussed in sufficient detail, and R. Talsorian Games includes a list of major choices from the CD Projekt series so you can tweak the world state to your liking.

“The Witcher” may be prominently displayed on the game’s cover, but you don’t have to play as a monster hunter here. A wide range of character types are available, including bards, mages, men at arms, craftsmen, and more. You can even play as a travelling merchant if you’re so inclined, buying and selling goods across the continent without caring about grand quests or political strife.

What’s more, players have many options for crafting rich backstories for their characters. The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG uses a “lifepath” system to randomly-generate a personal history. A few dice rolls determine your family background, surviving siblings, any previous (or current) lovers, and perhaps even a sworn enemy or two. Lifepaths are included for Northerners, Nilfgaardians, Elderlands elves, and Witchers, all of which can even inspire future campaign events.

Character types vary wildly in combat abilities, since The Witcher aims to simulate a specific fantasy world – not balanced fighting. It would be unwise to send your bard out alone to fight a griffin. (Then again, if they survive, they’ll have a good story to share!) By the same token, when your witcher starts busking on a street corner for extra cash, it’s just going to disappoint bystanders more than anything else.

If you’re running a combat-heavy game, this creates all kinds of balance issues. Parties made up entirely of witchers or mages will breeze through most opponents, while a party without witchers will find combat to be challenging and insanely lethal. Yet by having a mix of character types, everyone in the party can embrace a different playstyle and get a chance to shine in the spotlight.

Yes, your group will hunt monsters. They’ll also take part in court intrigues, engage in skullduggery on city streets, or experience the satisfaction of crafting legendary weapons. A campaign where the party is an entourage for a witcher knight would be an ideal framework in The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG, giving everyone a unique role to play.

The main challenge is focusing your group’s character options to avoid inter-party conflict. What happens if one player is allied with the freedom-fighting Scoia’tael, while another is allied with human kings? What if one player is a sorcerer, but has to work alongside a mage hunter? The Games Master guide chapter has little advice on bringing these elements together, which means players might want to focus their backstories beforehand. Then again, part of The Witcher’s appeal is dealing with deep-seated personal conflicts – handled correctly, it might enhance the campaign.

On that note, racism and prejudice are common themes in the Witcher series, and full credit to the designers for not shying away from these realities. Humans, elves, dwarves, mages, and witchers all have rules for how NPCs view them in various regions – ranging from annoyed tolerance to outright hatred. GMs will have to decide how far to take the subject, but it’s a solid starting point for groups that are comfortable exploring these topics.

On a mechanical level, The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG does an excellent job of adapting every system from the video games. Silver swords do extra damage to monsters, while steel swords are more durable when used against humanoids. Almost every Mage spell seen or described in the books and game trilogy are represented here – including the full list of witchers signs. Levelling up is visually represented using Witcher 3’s perk trees, and all witcher potions and sword oils are presented as well.

The game probably could have stopped there, but its designers have gone the extra mile with granular details. Weapons and armour wear down and must be repaired. Crafting diagrams can be collected and taken to a blacksmith for unique items. A detailed alchemy system tells you what herbs and organic materials are needed to craft potions and weapon oils. Each monster in the bestiary even includes an average bounty cost and loot drops, if you want to play in a monster hunting sandbox.

Players don’t necessarily have to use these systems – you could just hire someone in a village to do the manual labour for you. But they create a sense of depth and authenticity, and offer great opportunities who players who like to dive into the nuances of an adventuring life.

Then you have combat itself, which is incredibly deadly. The first page of the combat chapter directly warns players to avoid fighting enemy groups wherever possible. Even a party of experienced witchers will discover that fighting multiple fiends at once is crushingly difficult.

Just like the video games, The Witcher rewards players who prepare for a fight. You can do intelligence rolls to recall details about a particular beast, or hunt down research materials from witcher keeps. Each monster has specific weaknesses – usually in the form of a particular sword oil – which makes the chances of success far more likely.

While the tone of battle preparation has been well-adapted, the hard part is juggling all the calculations the video games did for you. There are many overlapping, number-crunching systems at play during every combat roll. You must consider armor protection, armor damage, poison effects, potion boosts, silver damage against monsters, cover penetration, and more.

On the other hand, most combat tends to be so lethal and fast-paced that you won’t spend long in each fight anyway. And if you survive, healing for non-Witchers is a lengthy process, so you probably won’t rush into frequent battles. But it remains an overwhelming level of detail to account for, even for a veteran tabletop player.

The Witcher does a remarkable job of adapting the tone and mechanical depth of the video games to a tabletop RPG system. It offers a level of complexity that will likely confound first-time tabletop players, but if you have a veteran GM who’s good with pacing, there’s a great deal of potential here.

If I had one major disappointment, it’s that The Witcher doesn’t quite feel like a complete game. Oh, it’s certainly a comprehensive core book, especially in terms of mechanics and game systems. Yet it also feels like R. Talsorian Games is saving content for future supplements.

Significant enemies like the Wild Hunt aren’t featured in the monsters chapter, while the Games Master tools are quite limited given the wide range of character options. By comparison, the Dragon Age RPG from Green Ronin had a complete set of resources for players and GMs alike, without relying too heavily on advanced mechanics.

Regardless, The Witcher RPG knows exactly what kind of tabletop experience it wants to adapt – one with all the difficulty and character nuance of its rich fantasy world. On that score, it is immensely successful.

Digital copies of the game are currently available from web retailers like DriveThruRPG, with a print run in the works soon.

The post Witcher Pen and Paper RPG review – clever systems and deep lore appeared first on VG247.

The Witcher developer CD Projekt has told original author Andrzej Sapkowski that it will not pay him more money for the license of his works.

Sapkowski has demanded millions from CD Projekt after initially selling the rights to the developer for a lump sum rather than a percentage of sales.

He and his legal team claim those rights were only for the first game, and therefore he’s owed money for sequels and expansions.

In a notice issued to CD Projekt he demanded 60 million Polish zlotys (more than 16 million US dollars) from CD Projekt, claiming he is due between 5 and 15 percent of profits of the games based on his work.

“In the Company’s opinion the demands expressed in the notice are groundless with regard to their merit as well as the stipulated amount,” said CD Projekt.

“The Company had legitimately and legally acquired copyright to Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s work, insofar as is required for its use in games developed by the Company. All liabilities payable by the Company in association therewith have been properly discharged.”

“It is the Company’s will to maintain good relations with authors of works which have inspired CD PROJEKT RED’s own creations,” added CD Projekt.

“Consequently, the Board will go to great lengths to ensure amicable resolution of this dispute; however, any such resolution must be respectful of previously expressed intents of both parties, as well as existing contracts.”

The law firm acting on Sapkowski’s behalf seems to be in it for the long run, claiming that its notice has not been taken lightly, and that it has more arguments to strengthen its claims.

“The brief analysis presented above in no way exhausts the pool of arguments and evidence in our possession,” it said. “We are fully aware of the fact that the Author’s claim expressed herein is not a typical request, and that demanding payment of dozens of millions Polish Zlotys is not an everyday occurrence.

We nevertheless wish to assure you that the case has been under preparation for a fairly long time, and that the Author is fully aware of the scenarios which may unfold depending on your actions. Even more importantly, both we and the Author are determined and prepared to see this matter through to a fully successful conclusion.”

The post CD Projekt refuses to pay The Witcher author’s new demands of $16 million for rights to work appeared first on VG247.

CD Projekt Red has a reputation for creating games that have dozens of hours of story, intricate and meaningful side quests and a wealth of dialogue and choices to be made. It’s understandable, then, that upon announcing Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, fans expected nothing less than a fully-fledged RPG experience based on one of the greatest games ever made coupled with the best digital card game available (don’t @ me).

Thronebreaker boasts an impressive 30 hours of gameplay, has more lines of dialogue that the Hearts of Stone DLC for The Witcher 3, 77 side quests and 20 possible game endings. Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, the lead quest designer for The Witcher 3, directed the game so you can be sure each quest and interaction is as meaningful as it is relevant and entertaining.

Entertanium recently released a 24-minute video showcasing the game and its lead protagonist, Queen Meve of the kingdoms of Lyria and Rivia – sound familiar? Being a massive fan of the Witcher, I’ve been following Gwent: The Witcher Card Game and Thronebreaker for quite some time, so here’s a rundown of everything we know about Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales release date

Thronebreaker will available on PC from October 23, and on Xbox One and PS4 on December 4.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Pre-order

You can pre-order Thronebreaker from GOG.com here. You can also pre-order for the Xbox One digitally, but nothing has appeared on the UK PlayStation store yet. There are no pre-order extras as such, but like we saw with The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red have included a few goodies:

• Concept art, including the map of Lyria
• The Witcher graphic novel “Fox Children” by Dark Horse
• 2 in-game GWENT: The Witcher Card Game Player Titles
• 2 in-game GWENT: The Witcher Card Game Player Avatars
• 5 premium kegs for GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
• Official Thronebreaker Soundtrack
• 20 brand new cards for GWENT: The Witcher Card Game.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales gameplay

Thronebreaker was trialled as a story mode in the Gwent beta last year and was very well received. You play as Queen Meve, a battle-hardened monarch on a journey wrought with destruction, revenge and looming Nilfgaardian invasion.

Like The Witcher 3, the player is encouraged to explore every area of the map and interact with all the NPCs, your companions and whoever else you might meet along the way. Companions can leave your company, soldiers can be lost in battle and new friendships can be forged as you form new alliances and deal with the fallout from betrayal.

Thronebreaker is reminiscent of point and click adventures as you use an arrow to guide Meve around the map. Choice is a key factor in Thronebreaker, much like previous Witcher games, where you can choose where you go, with whom you interact with and as is shown in the video, whether you want to use resources like gold or wood or use manpower to clear a blockage. Every interaction or act of omission will count, so be mindful of your decisions.

How about a round of Gwent?

Sadly, you won’t be pirouetting around the battlefield a la Geralt of Rivia in Thronebreaker. The Homecoming version of Gwent is used in place of standard combat. There’s a robust tutorial to help you get to grips with Gwent if you’ve neither The Witcher 3 or the standalone Gwent card game and it adds quite an exciting and challenging element to combat.

As a bit of a Gwent aficionado, it’s interesting to see it used as both a plot device and combat method. Depending on your choices, both in the main game and during combat modes, cards will disappear from your deck. That is, if you do something to irk a companion or have someone killed in the main game, they won’t be available to play during Gwent combat. It’s quite an innovative take on the whole companion situation we’ve watched time and time again during open-world games and links the RPG story and card-based combat together seamlessly.

For those who haven’t played Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, it is very different to the style of that seen in The Witcher 3. It’s still in beta for the next few weeks, so it might be worthwhile installing it for a few quick rounds of Gwent to get to grips with the mechanics before Thronebreaker is released.

Synergy plays a huge role in Gwent now, wherein a unit can interact with other cards in various ways. In the gameplay video, the card has an ability which can be used every few turns or so that affects other cards on its row by adding armour.

Some cards will cause damage every turn, some will draw other cards from your deck and others will trigger row effects. Row effects can negatively or positively affect your cards. Synergies can deal deadly combos with the right set up, and each card comes with a short blurb about what it can do so it won’t all be guesswork.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales dialogue

As we said earlier, Thronebreaker has more lines of dialogue than the Hearts of Stone DLC, so expect the same level of depth and choice that you’ve seen in previous Witcher titles. As usual, there are multiple ways to respond to dilemmas and conversations, some being clear good or bad choices and others being morally grey like we’re used to seeing.

There will always be unforeseen consequences after each interaction in Thronebreaker – it wouldn’t be a Witcher game without them – and each segment of dialogue can influence which ending you are likely to get. Meve has a very assertive nature about her and the responses she can give are on the same wavelength of Geralt’s usual snarky remarks at times.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales locations

You’ll get to play in a range of new locations in Thronebreaker, such as Lyria, Rivia, Aedirn, Mahakam and Angren. Many of these names you’ll be familiar with already if you’ve played other titles in the series, not least of all Rivia. Thronebreaker promises to be rich in Witcher lore and exploring these new locations and meeting the locals will give you a tactical advantage in-game as well as a broader understanding of the Witcher universe.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales base camp and resources

Your base camp is essentially your portable hub of operations. You begin with the Royal tent, the Mess tent and the Workshop and each one is upgradable and customisable.

The Royal tent is where you can access key correspondence, main objectives and regional maps. Upgrading your Royal tent will give you access to more maps. You’ll also store map fragments and keys here, although these can also be accessed in the main game by checking the knapsack icon.

Improving your Workshop will give you access to better soldiers, i.e. better cards, and the better your cards are then the easier your journey will be.

You’ll need to collect various resources to progress through the story and improve your camp such as Gold, wood and soldiers. By completing quests, following treasure maps or simply poking around the map, you’ll soon amass enough resources to influence the story the way you want it.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales morale

CD Projekt Red has added morale to Thronebreaker which can severely impact your performance and chance of success in battle. Again, this is another feature that brings the RPG and card-playing elements of Thronebreaker together and emphasises that it isn’t two games in one – it’s all part of the same parcel.

Interacting with way shrines and completing side quests boosts morale, whereas executions or against a companion’s wishes can decrease it. This, in turn, boosts or decreases each unit’s strength by one point, which can make or break a match.

After each battle, morale returns to neutral, meaning that you’ll need to constantly monitor it lest you enjoy having unnecessary negative impacts on your deck.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales companions

In amongst the soldiers, you’ll recruit to build your card deck, there will also be voiced storied companions. These can be used in combat and are represented as Gold cards. Outside of battle, you can speak with them in the Mess tent to learn more about them and unlock unique dialogue and quests.

There is a wealth of new characters, many of whom you won’t recognise from the games but may from the books, including Meve. Thronebreaker is set just before the first Witcher game, so we may see a very different Geralt if he appears at all.

Betraying a character or leaving a quest unfinished will have repercussions in your game and can influence which of the 20 endings you will get.

The different art and combat styles don’t detract from how massive and complicated Thronebreaker is. Like the previous Witcher games, each choice has a knock-on effect, there are morally grey areas to contend with and opinions to consider whilst juggling building an effective card deck to defeat your enemies. It’s a refreshing take on an established franchise and I’m hankering to play some Gwent.

CDPR will be streaming straight from the CDPR office today featuring Paweł Burza, the community manager, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, the Game Director and Jakub Szamałek, the Principal Writer

The post Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – everything you need to know about CD Projekt’s next RPG appeared first on VG247.

How about a round of cards? Gwent, specifically.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is the latest title from CD Projekt Red based in the world of my main man, Geralt of Rivia. Borrowing heavily from the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, Thronebreaker features a host of new characters and locations within The Witcher universe, as well as using CDPR’s other venture, Gwent, as its basis of combat.

Those of you who have played The Witcher 3 will be familiar with a base version of Gwent, and some of you may even have played the Gwent beta that’s been available for just over two years. Thronebreaker was a game mode that was introduced to the beta and proved so successful that CDPR fleshed it out into a 30-hour standalone RPG.

Using the words “Witcher” and “RPG” in tandem is a dangerous mix as Thronebreaker had some big boots to fill. And by the Prophet of Lebioda, it delivers.

A queen betrayed

Thronebreaker’s lead protagonist is the revered Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia. Known for her beauty, cunning and battle prowess, Meve is an exceptional protagonist. She is a monarch, a mother, and a person all her own. The writers have certainly loaned her Geralt’s sarcasm and wit, as well as Triss’ compassion and Yennefer’s confidence. As formidable in battle as she is in diplomatic discussions, Meve is a powerful new addition to the franchise’s stalwart cast.

There are five new regions that feature in the game that we’ve not visited in any of the previous Witcher games: Lyria, Rivia, Aedirn, Angren and Mahakam. Each region is unlocked after a certain number of tasks have been completed and all areas have unique enemies, stories and companions.

For those in doubt over whether this is a true Witcher game, you need only play it for a few moments to recognise all its trademarks. The same sound effects can be heard, it has the same fast travel, and familiar icons litter the map, as well as an even darker version of the universe’s trademark morally grey choices. Much like The Witcher, the ramifications of some choices are felt immediately, whereas others become more apparent down the line.

As with all Witcher games, things are not as they appear. In the opening hours, Meve is faced with the news that a group of bandits, The Strays of Spalla, have raided various villages in Lyria and stolen gold meant for the Crown.

As Thronebreaker is set sometime between The Witcher 2 and 3, the Nilfgaardians have crossed the Yaruga into the Northern Realms. Upon arriving at the castle, Meve discovers that one of her trusted advisors, Count Caldwell, and her son have conspired against her and will bend the knee to the Nilfgaardians, forcibly removing the Queen and locking her in prison.

The next segment is reminiscent of The Witcher 2 where Geralt and Vernon Roche are sitting in prison; an unlikely alliance forms. Meve is forced to merge what little army and pride she has left with Gascon’s loyal band of Strays, and flee Lyria in search of allies.

The Scoia’tael feature heavily throughout the game, reminding you that this is not a binary war; it is one with many fronts. Not only must the Queen contend with civil unrest between humans and non-humans, she must also deal with betrayal and brutality from both the Scoia’tael and the Nilfgaardians, the rough and rowdy Skelligens, the wildly differing opinions of her companions and the monsters that prowl the map.

The twists and turns, the morally grey choices and the abject cruelty in Thronebreaker are a reflection of the books. The Witcher 3 had some harrowing choices, but Thronebreaker stays true to a lot of the book’s canon and lore, which somehow feels more difficult to swallow as the game includes a lot of descriptive text as opposed to almost life-like graphics.

Some of the choices you make have very clear consequences, and certain choices will only be available if you have completed specific tasks or recruited specific characters. It is, in all intents and purposes, a Witcher game with unique combat style and a look that borrows a page out of Telltale’s stylistic book.

Thronebreaker puzzles, battles and encounters

Rather than pirouetting with a sword and setting everything alight with Igni, Gwent is the mode of combat in Thronebreaker. The game uses Gwent: Homecoming for its playstyle, which is a huge departure from the vanilla Gwent in the Witcher 3. It’s used as both a plot device and a combat method, as outside of dialogue, you’ll essentially need to win a round of cards to progress with the story.

Depending on your choices and at what point of the story you’re at, cards will disappear from your deck. You need to recruit troops as you go, either by using recruitment stops or interacting three or four times with NPCs. You can recruit, or build, cards from your command tent, have various Trinkets that will heal your allies or deal devastating blows to your enemies, as well as special Leadership powers for Meve.

Most cards have a unique ability, whether that’s dealing damage, healing allies or spawning copies of itself. It can be quite overwhelming at first when you’re trying to read all the card’s descriptors and get your head around them, but it gets easier over time. The tutorial doesn’t really go into enough depth about the Synergy between cards, so some of the puzzles can be very frustrating in the first few hours of the game.

Synergy plays a huge role in Gwent, wherein a unit can interact with other cards in various ways. There’s no countdown timer in this version of Gwent, so it is important that you take the time to read the cards in your hand, as well as your enemy’s hand. It may be necessary in some cases to sacrifice one of your own cards if it means that on its “death”, it will deal high damage to an enemy, for example.

There is a range of scenarios in which you’ll play Gwent, such as battles, random encounters and puzzles. A puzzle piece icon will usually appear above a monster, and upon completing the puzzle you’ll usually be rewarded with either a card or a puzzle piece that forms part of a new, soon to be unlocked card.

The puzzles, as well as some of the battles and encounters, have special rules, usually involving it being a one-round, shorter match and a pre-determined hand. Unlike many other puzzles or collectable card games, almost everything in your hand should be used. I have only come across one special rules game where I didn’t use every card in my hand, so it’s important to remember that in almost every instance each card has an intended purpose.

Before each interaction involving Gwent, a screen appears detailing what you have to do, whether it’s defeat all foes, make sure Meve doesn’t die or make sure no cows get eaten – a scenario I’ve had twice.

You’ll have to return to your Command Tent regularly to keep an eye on your deck because it’s quite easy to become complacent and not switch the cards around often enough. Overall, using Gwent links the RPG story and card-based combat together seamlessly and it’s an incredibly clever execution of two of the best features of the Witcher universe.

Quests, companions and improving your camp

You can access quest information, letters and other items from your knapsack or pitch a camp to meet with your companions in the Mess tent for some interesting dialogue or head to the Royal tent to get an overview of everything you’ve learned so far and what you need to do next. The Workshop is where you improve each tent, allowing for better perks and chances of success.

Improving the Royal tent reveals more areas of the map as well as allowing you to equip more Trinkets in battle, and upgrading the Workshop unlocks more cards and the chance to earn Gold after matches, which is always handy. Other upgrades including increasing Meve’s speed and allowing for more companions in the Mess tent.

Speaking with your companions reminds me of the Mass Effect series, where you get limited dialogue for a time before more unlocks, enabling you to learn more about them, their past, and more. The characters are well developed, despite only seeing some of them for short periods of time. As this is only a 30-hour game (bear with me here), with so much to do and so many characters involved, you know exactly where you stand with each named companion from the get-go, with certain developments or breakdowns in relationships appearing along the way.

Each interaction and quest has meaning and relevance to the overall story. So if you run around the map ignoring various side quests and interactions, it will definitely interfere with how your story will play out and influence which of the 20 endings you will get.

You’ll often see the message “You’ve chosen one evil in favour of another” which demonstrates how difficult some of the quest lines are. Whilst Geralt has to make decisions that affected at most a small village, but often only one or two individuals, playing as Meve means you’ll often need to make decisions that will affect your army, you enemy’s squadron, prisoners and ones that risk you losing a companion along the way. Thronebreaker emphasises that there are no “right” choices to be made, so the “best” ending of the game need not necessarily be the “right” one.

If you liked any of the Witcher games, novels or Gwent, then I would implore you to buy Thronebreaker. It’s like a 30-hour long easter egg, filled with references, inside jokes and an engaging story with an empowering lead.

Thronebreaker: the Witcher Tales fits perfectly into the Witcher universe, bridging the gap between The Witcher 2 and 3 and elaborating on its already substantial lore. Many of the characters and references you may recognise from the games, novels or comics, and of course, there are a few familiar names and faces that appear to link the games together.

For those who haven’t read the books yet, Thronebreaker would be your first port of call to get a taste of what they’re like. If I were to suggest that you play The Witcher games in order, Thronebreaker would be one of the first titles on that list as it helps set the stage for Geralt’s adventures as well as give fans a greater understanding of the wider Witcher world.

So, what would you say to a little game of Gwent?

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Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is CD Projekt Red’s latest game set in The Witcher universe.

Thronereaker is a 30-hour long RPG that employs Gwent: Homecoming as its mode of combat. Whilst the game offers a short tutorial at the start, getting to grips with deck building and card synergy can be a little challenging.

If you haven’t played Gwent or if you’ve only played The Witcher 3 version, it can take a while to get used to the new dynamics and meta of Gwent: Homecoming. You’ll also need to consider upgrading the various tents in your base camp, which companions to side with and how to tackle the various puzzles and battles on the map.

We’ve listed some tips for getting started and will elaborate on Gwent card synergy later. You can check out our review of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales here.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales base camp

Your base camp acts as your hub and inventory management screen. There’s a Royal tent, the Mess tent, the Command tent, the Training Grounds and the Workshop. Each element of the base camp can my improved upon, with various perks or items becoming available as you unlock each upgrade.

The top right-hand corner displays the number of recruits you have, your resources and the amount of Gold you are carrying.

You need to access the Workshop to make any upgrades. Your tents, or skills, are upgraded through a skill tree from each tents submenu in the Workshop, and the Workshop itself can also be upgraded.

The Royal tent stores letters, keys, maps and quest information, and upgrading it will improve map visibility as well as allowing Meve to equip more Trinkets in battle, but more on that later.

The Command tent, as the name suggests, is where you’ll decide what troops you want to use in battle. That is, what cards you want in your deck. Here, you can build your deck by using existing cards or creating new ones, which costs resources and gold. By upgrading the Command tent, you’ll be able to increase your recruitment cap which means you can have more units in your hand, as well as decreasing the cost of recruitment.

Upgrading the Mess tent equally decreases the cost of having it, as you’ll want to expand it to allow for new companions. It’s a similar story with the Training Grounds; upgrading it will allow you to recruit more combat units, as well as earn more gold and gain more troops after each win.

The Workshop can be upgraded to increase Meve’s movement across the map, as well as being able to recruit support units, alchemy and magic units engineering units.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales resources

There are a tonne of loot points around the map and it’s important to pick them all up – really. You’ll need all the Gold, wood and recruits you can get your hands on to succeed in Thronebreaker, so it’s worth spending 50 Gold on Scouts to reveal all the loot drops in the world.

Loot can be identified either by a hand icon on the map or above the item, as well as bright green ribbon on the item.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales dialogue, choices and companions

Throughout the story, you’ll meet a host of new characters and some familiar names. Without spoiling too much for you, there will be named and voiced characters who will become available as Gold cards, and will be visible in your Mess tent. You’ll be able to interact with these characters at regular intervals, and you’re encouraged to do so to form stronger bonds with them. Anyone that ends up in the Mess tent is what we’ll dub a key player.

The rule of thumb in Witcher games is to recruit everyone you meet, so it’s a good idea to recruit Black Rayla, Eyck, Isbel and Gascon as soon as you can. Be mindful of their intentions, however, as there is a general air of distrust and paranoia in the ranks.

The key players each have their own tactics and style and will try to influence Meve to follow their lead. You can, of course, choose not to recruit them or, as I did, accidentally not recruit them by choosing the wrong option. There isn’t much scope to load back and try again in Thronebreaker, so choose carefully when deciding on who to bring for the ride.

You’ll also encounter various NPCs that you can recruit to your army who aren’t key players, such as allowing peasants to join your ranks to spare them an untimely death or meeting the odd elf. Each interaction with a group of NPCs has consequences, immediate or not, with sometimes very positive or disastrous results for you and your army.

If you complete a challenge in a town, win a battle or defeat a monster and there are NPCs lurking around, it’s worthwhile going back and engaging them in dialogue three or four times because there’s a chance they’ll come and join your ranks. At worse, they’ll belittle your previous choice with a dry quip.

You’ll often see the phrase “You’ve chosen one evil in favour of another”, emulating the morally ambiguous nature of The Witcher universe. It’s even less obvious than in previous Witcher games which of the options is the “right” one, more so because you play as a monarch as opposed to a lone Witcher on the Path.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Gwent

As previously stated, the version of Gwent that Thronebreaker uses is Homecoming, which is the base format of the standalone version of Gwent. Gwent, at its core, is a very simple card game wherein you have to beat your opponent’s high score. It’s a little different in Thronebreaker and you’ll need more than high-value cards to win.

Gwent: Homecoming is starkly different from The Witcher 3 version. These cards have varying base values, as well as abilities. Some cards deal damage and others can be used for healing, as you’d expect.

Others have a rechargeable ability, or one that stacks over time, and many high-value cards have recharge abilities. Meve also has Leadership abilities which can vary between boosting your allies power, damaging the enemy and moving cards around the board.

The opening tutorial underpins the key concepts of Gwent in a very straightforward way, but what it lacks is an adequate explanation of how synergies work. It also doesn’t really explain the types of games you’ll have, namely battles, puzzles and random encounters.

Many of these encounters will be a Special Rules game, where you’ll need to use a preselected hand, or choose cards out of a predetermined deck. There may also be specific instructions, such as not letting any cows die, defeat all foes or reduce all enemies to one health. Quite often, a Special Rules game will last one round, adding another layer of difficulty to the match.

Meve has her own leadership ability and can also equip Trinkets to enhance gameplay, such as a runestone that deals high damage or a card that will heal your units and damage your opponents. There’s a fair bit of freedom to pick and choose what cards you want to use to best fit your style of gameplay.

The puzzles appear to be the most challenging element of the game, mostly because of the reliance on synergy to try and trip you up. Unlike many other puzzle or card based games, none of the cards in your hand are a ruse. There has only been one match where I have not used every card in my hand, so don’t disregard a card just because it appears to be useless.

It is important to read and understand the use of every card in your deck. One of the most common cards you’ll see in a puzzle is the Wagenburg, so here’s a brief example of how you could use it in a puzzle.

Puzzles and Synergy

Say you had an enemy with health value of 11 and the Special Rule was that the enemy had to be eliminated. Your predetermined hand includes the Wagenburg, a War Wagon, and Reynard.

Once a Wagenburg is played, every time another card plays on this row, it will gain one armour and one damage point. Ergo, the more cards you play on that row, the higher the damage it will do. You would then play the War Wagon, which pulls two low-value Light Infantry cards from your deck and plays them. By now, you there are four cards on the board and the Wagenburg will now have a damage value of three.

You might be wondering at this point how you intend to damage your opponent at this point. If you look again at the Light Infantry card, you’ll see that it has a Deathwish perk, when upon being killed, it will inflict five damage points on an enemy. You are able to use a cards perk, such as stacked damage, at any point during a round and if you have a recharge power like your Reynard card does, it is wise to use the power first, then deploy the recharge card to use it again.

So, what you would do is use the Wagenburg’s three damage points on your own row, destroying the two Light Infantry. These will inflict 10 damage on your enemy. You would then play Reynard, who would give the Wagenburg one damage point and recharge its damage ability. You would then use that remaining damage point on the enemy and win the match.

The solution to various battles or puzzles may not be obvious the first time around, but with practice, you do pick up the knowledge and experience to work out what you need to do.

CDPR have really pulled off something quite unique with this style of combat. There’s a real subtlety to Gwent in Thronebreaker, with card choices and layouts that aren’t as they appear and forcing you to think quickly in order to defeat a boss. And believe, there will be a lot of defeats, which makes the resulting victory even sweeter.

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